We’re so excited to introduce a new feature here on Love that Shot called the Branding Insider, a series of interviews and articles where we’ll peel back the curtain and give you a peek behind the scenes of your favorite brands and entrepreneurs.

First up is The Organic Bloom, a wholesale company that specializes in creating unique, custom-made frames for professional photographers. We first fell in love with their frames a couple years ago and have been hooked ever since! I’m sure you’ll agree, these colorful wooden frames are to die for!

I caught up with co-owner, Andrea Sooter, to ask her a few questions about how she and her husband, Jason, became a “blooming” success, what they do every day to promote their business, and how they balance family life with being successful entrepreneurs…

How did The Organic Bloom get its start? What inspired you to start your own business?

About 3.5 years ago, one of our dear friends (who is professional photog) Brenda Horan, said to us, “You two are creative, can you come up with some sort of cool picture frames for me to sell to my customers? I can’t quite find what I want out there on the Internet.” … and so it began with Jason producing the raw wood frames and me painting them on our dining room table! (In the 8 years that we’ve known each other & been married, we’ve always been self-employed, so starting another business was not new territory for us.)

You mention on your website that within months of opening, The Organic Bloom became a “blooming” success. What is one thing you did in the beginning that you attribute this success to?

Facebook, hands down! We were fortunate to start a business when Facebook was still really great for spreading the word about your company!

How did you come up with the name, The Organic Bloom? How important has establishing a definite brand image been for building your business?

Jason had this name picked out for a company a good year or two before the concept came to us. It’s an inspiring combo of words he liked, and it fits us well! With many knock offs of our product now, it’s been really neat to hear how our brand has gained respect for the quality of craftsmanship and care of our customers that we offer.

What is something you do consistently to market and grow your brand?

We sponsor a good number of photography workshops each month, that puts our product into the hands of potential clients. We also strive to have a continual online presence in various forms of social media.

What does a typical day look like at The Organic Bloom? How do you start your day to ensure it’s a success?

I personally stay home mostly these days raising our darling toddler, Ellie, but I keep my hands in the company by keeping track of all our workshop sponsorships. Jason mostly oversees the finances and the big picture/vision for our company to grow.

What is one thing that you wish you knew in the beginning? Maybe a lesson learned or a challenge you’ve overcome?

Oh boy, how to ship a fragile & potentially large product would definitely be up on the list!

How do you balance being an entrepreneur and spending time with your family?

3 years ago there was zero “balance” – we were both spending 18 hours a day 7 days a week working to get The Bloom off the ground. Our home life became non-existent. The first step we made was me coming back home full time as a homemaker, we worked better together as a couple that way. Then we started our family in 2012, and the hours Jason was working became a bit more “normal” as he didn’t want to miss out on our daughter growing up! We recently moved closer to our shop too as this enables Ellie and I to drop by at any time or Jason to come home for lunch midday. Some days he comes home for dinner and Ellie’s bedtime and then heads back to work, but it’s important to us that there is some normalcy in the amount of time we get to spend together as a family.

If you could tell someone who is just starting out only one thing, what would it be?

Have a business plan! Learn the ins and outs of shipping ahead of time!

You have a very creative business, where do you like to turn to for creative inspiration?

Mostly the internet, Jason peruses design blogs constantly!

What has been the most rewarding thing about owning your own business and being a successful entrepreneur?

Definitely the challenge of figuring things out as we go!

I have to agree, one of my favorite aspects of being an entrepreneur is new experiences and figuring things out on the run. It’s a challenge for sure, but the rush I feel when I finish stronger than I started, that’s what I live for!

Please, join us in thanking Andrea for taking the time to share a sneak peek behind the scenes at The Organic Bloom…give her a shout-out in the comments below, and be sure to share this article with your business buds, too!